Just-in-Time Production

Just-in-time (JIT) production is a system for organizing production based on pulling the work in progress through the various phases of manufacturing according to detailed signaling procedures as to what to produce at what specific time. Monden Yasuhiro defined JIT as salable products in salable quantities for the system. The social scientist Benjamin Coriat coined the term thinking in reverse for the system because it turns upside down the push-based logic of Henry Ford and other manufacturers dominating mass production during the early decades of the 20th century, consisting of preparing materials and work in progress at various stations throughout the process and conveying these to the next stages with as high volumes as possible. Instead, the pioneers of JIT production devised a system where ...